Pedestal panel floor



Nov. 27, 1962 -r. TREMER PEDESTAL PANEL FLOOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 13, 1956 LKIVI;

INVENTOR THOMAS E. THEME? BY Swims 8- 5mm ATTORNEYS Nov. 27, 1962 'r. E. TREMER PEDESTAL PANEL FLOOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 15, 1956 INVENTOR THOMAS E. THEME/P BY SW05 (9 SW ATTORNEYS spasms PEDESTAL PANEL EFLJUR Thomas E. Tremor, Baltimore, Md, assignor, by mesne assignments, of one=third to .iohu H. ONeill and onethird to Robert S. .leudrelr, hot-h of Bel Air, Md, and one-third to Samuel Lebuwitz, Washington, DJC.

Filed Aug. 13, B55, Ser. No. sensor 9 Claims. or. Ziit) Another object of the invention is to provide a floor Y which can be maintained level in spite of the fact that the base under it, such as another floor or subfloor, or a concrete base, may not be level itself.

Another object of the invention is to provide a floor which will distribute the weight evenly over the base thus permitting concentrated loads without injury to the floor itself or to the base.

With these and further object in view as will be apparent from the ensuing description, the invention consists of the constructions described but without any purpose to limit the constructions to those actually depicted.

Referring to the drawings, FIGURE 1 shows a perspective view of my floor with parts broken away to more thoroughly illustrate the construction.

FIGURE 2 is a view in perspective of one of the floor panels.

FIGURE 3 is a view taken along the lines 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIGURE 4 is an exploded view of the T-bar supports and the slotted head and the dajustable pedestals.

FIGURE 5- is a perspective View of the resilient clip or holding means by which the floor panels are held to the T-bar supports.

Referring to the drawings, I have shown a panel floor indicated by the numeral 1. Separate panels are indicated by the numeral 2. Each panel may comprise a series of tiles, or parquet, or cork units or wooden units. Each of the panels may be solid or may comprise for decorative purposes a number of smaller units assembled within the confines of the periphery of the main panel. These smaller units are illustrated by numerals 3. See FEGURE 2.

The main panels 2 as illustrated have a surface comprising the smaller units 3 held in place by a rim 4 of a metallic border member 5 which has a plane surface, free of any ribs or grooves which may be in interengaging relation with the border members of the adjacent panels. Lying within the metallic border member S is an upper metallic flat member 6 and spaced therefrom a lower metallic flat member 7. These may be spaced apart by a honeycomb construction '7' which may consist of metal, paper, or plastic or some other suitable material which makes the panels 2 strong but very light. Thus, the panels have a high loading capacity-to-weight ratio. Such honeycomb construction is usual in airplane manufacture.

Each panel 2 is provided with spring clips 7" which are adapted to contact with the edge of the tlat upper member 8 of a T-bar support construction having its middle member, or web, 9 projecting downwardly.

Some of the T-bar supports may be cut on its ends on a slant as indicated at it) so that the middle member 29 may be inserted in the slots 11 of a slotted head 12 having a downwardly proiecting portion 13 around whi h is adapted to rotate a pipe 14 which forms a central stern of the adjustable pedestal support. The central pipe or stem 14 is screw threaded as indicated at I5; the screw threads at 15 cooperating with the screw threads 16 in a footing 17 which may be provided with screw holes 18 which permit the footing 17 to be permanently attached as by screws or bolts (not shown) to a base member 1%. The base member 19 may be another floor upon which my pedestal panel floor is adapted to be supported.

As before indicated, the panel sections 2 may be of solid metal or any desired construction, such as the one illustrated, but they are held in detachable resilient relationship by clips 7" to the horizontal members 8 of the T-bar supports. The central webs 9 hold the slotted head 12 against rotation and by rotating the stern which comprises the pipe 14, the head 12 may be raised or lowered by reason of the screw threaded engagement of the stem 14 with the footing 17.

Thus each of the adjustable pedestals may be elongated or made shorter to make the main floor 1 even though there are irregularities in the base 19.

It will be noted that there are a series of T-bar supports which are relatively long, that is to say, they rest on at least three of the slotted heads of the pedestals. This gives strength to the construction and permits distribution of any concentrated load on the fioor 1 because more than two pedestals are engaged by the series of T-bar supports of relatively great length. There are spacer supports of shorter length as indicated at 2t. The spacer supports hold the relatively long supports indicated by the numeral 21 in FIG. 1 in properly spaced relationship. The slanted construction it} of the ends of the short supports 2%? enable the construction to be readily asembled.

Obviously portions of panels 2 may be removed or may be cut out to any desired configuration to permit passage of electrical wires, pipes, or other equipment to the machinery which is being supported on the pedestal panel floor.

Que of the features of the floor is the detachability of the panels 2. These panels can be removed, for example, by placins a suction cup on the floor and raising the suction cup which will raise the panel 2 and release the spring clips 7 from engagement with the flat sections 8 of the T-bar supports.

Each panel may be individually removed for easy access to the space beneath or the life of a panel may be increased greatly by changing the panel positions. There is often a permanent perimeter construction to square the room and insure complete fieiiibility of panels. Ramps of stationary or folding type are often desirable.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, I desire that I be limited only by the scope of the appended claims and the showing of the prior art.

I claim:

1. A knock-down indoor floor in the interior of a building, said floor being capable of supporting heavy loads thereon adapted to be mounted upon a sub-ioor and requiring a substantial space for electric cable networks therebetween with a ready capability of access thereto from above the floor, comprising a plurality of separately and readily attachable and removable prefabricated structural light-weight but strong floor panels of rectangular outline of predetermined size, means supporting said fioor panels comprising a plurality of vertical posts having the lower ends thereof adapted to rest on the sub-floor at predetermined spacings, and means at the upper ends of said posts supporting said floor panels in close juxtaposed relation free of any interengagement between the sides of adjacent panels to permit the free and ready lifting of individually separate floor panels from said supporting means therefor.

2. A knock-down indoor floor in the interior of a building, said floor being capable of supporting heavy loads thereon, adapted to be mounted upon a sub-floor and requiring a substantial space for electric cable net-" works therebetween with a ready capability of access thereto from above the floor, comprising a plurality of separately and readily attachable and removable prefabricated structural floor panels of rectangular outline of predetermined size having a high loading capacity-toweight ratio, means supporting said floor panels comprising a plurality of vertical posts each having a footing at the lower end thereof adapted to rest on the sub-floor at predetermined spacings, and means at the upper ends of said posts supporting said fioor panels in close juxtaposed relation free of any interengagement between the sides of adjacent panels to permit the free and ready lifting of individually separate floor panels from said supporting means therefor.

3. A knock-down indoor floor as set forth in claim 2 wherein said vertical posts are adjustable in length between the footings and upper ends thereof to control the level of the individual floor panels relative to the sub-floor.

4. In combination with an indoor sub-floor base, a knock-down pedestal floor capable of supporting heavy loads thereon which require extensive electric cable networks, said floor adapted to be spacedly mounted above said base with a ready capability of access from above and below the floor and comprising a plurality of separately and readily attachable and removable prefabricated strong but light structural floor panels f rectangular outline of predetermined size, means supporting said floor panels comprising a plurality of Vertically adjustable posts at predetermined spacings extending upwardly from said base, and a network f structural members interconnecting the upper ends of said posts, the edges of said floor panels resting on said structural members in close juxtaposed relation free of any interengagement between the sides of adjacent panels to permit the free and ready lifting of individually separate floor panels from said supporting means therefor.

5. In combination with an indoor sub-floor base, a modular floor construction capable of supporting heavy loads which require extensive electric cable and ductwork therebelow, said floor construction formed of a plurality of prefabricated strong but light floor panels of rectangular outline, of predetermined size and provided with plane edges, and supporting means on said base for said floor panels comprising a plurality of vertically adjustable posts at predetermined spacings extending upwardly from said base, a network of metallic structural members extending in a horizontal plane between the upper ends of said posts, said members each including a horizontal web and arranged in rectagular relation so that the horizontal webs provide support for the entire perimeters of said floor panels, which are readily liftable from said webs.

6. In combination with an indoor sub-floor base, a modular floor construction capable of supporting heavy loads and formed of a plurality of prefabricated strong but light floor panels of rectangular outline, or pre determined size and provided with plane edges, supporting means on said base for said floor panels comprising a plurality of vertically adjustable posts in alignment with each other in two transversely extending directions, transversely slotted members at the upper ends of said posts, a network of structural steel T-bars extending between said upper ends and including long lengths having the downwardly directed webs thereof extending through a plurality of aligned coaxial slots in said members to provide support for the sides of juxtaposed floor panels by the horizontal flanges extending from the top of said webs, and short lengths of structural steel T-bars having the downwardly directed webs thereof extending between the transversely directed slots in the upper ends of some of said members to provide support for the ends of the juxtaposed floor panels by the hori zontal flanges extending from the top of said lastmentioned webs.

7. An indoor floor construction as set forth in claim 6, wherein the webs of the short lengths of structural steel T-bars protrude beyond the ends of the horizontal flanges to engage the transversely directed slots while disposing said last-mentioned horizontal flanges on-the same level as the horizontal flanges of the long lengths to provide a fully perimetric support in a common plane for the entire perimeter of each floor panel.

8. An indoor floor construction for supporting heavy electronic machinery requiring extensive interchangeable electric cable systems, comprising a plurality of metallic vertical posts having the lower ends thereof positioned in a rectangular pattern upon a sub-floor, a structural network extending between the upper ends of said posts and including horizontal supporting flanges, and a supporting floor formed of a plurality of uniformly-dimensioned prefabricated rectangular floor panels of lightweight and high-loading capacity with the edges thereof supported on said flanges in close juxtaposition to the edges of adjacent panels and free of any interengagemerit between the latter, to enable the ready lifting of the individually separate floor panels to permit ready access to the space between the supporting floor and the sub-floor and the electric cable system disposed therein.

9. An indoor floor construction as set forth in claim 8 wherein the vertical posts are provided with fo'iitin s at their lower end and are adjustable in height to facilitate leveling of said structural network and the floor panels supported thereby.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 632,710 Gallagher Sept. 12, 1899 776,419 Platt Nov. 29, 1904 818,005 Turner et al. Apr. 17, 1906 894,708 Schwick-art July 28, 1908 972,264 Seipp Oct. 11, 1910 1,060,430 Crecelius Apr. 29, 1913 1,296,574 Wait Mar. 4, 1919 1,997,581 Heeren et al Apr. 16, 1935 2,046,152 Dean June 20, 1936 2,115,824 McRorey May 3, 1938 2,161,185 Mills June 6, 1939 ,176,007 Heanue Oct. 10, 1939 2,380,692 Gunnison July 31, 1945 2,867,301 Benton Jan. 6, 1959 

